Is widescreen worth it?

[KawaiiKid]

When you switch over to widescreen all your assets will get smaller, and I was wondering what you guys think for my game.

Does the original resolution in non widescreen format look better: 




Or 720p with smaller assets? http://imgur.com/c4d4P81

 

[Gothic Lolita]

After your game is pretty much made like a maze game, I would stick with 4:3 resolutions. May even the basic one.
Of course 720p/1080p is more up to date. But it also shows a greater area, which destroys the point of labyrinths.

What I see of your game I actually really like. It has a really dark look and the mapping looks great too.
I think for 16:9 resolutions, you need to make the maps a bit larger in the left to right scaling.

Is it worth it, no. The best RPG Maker games I played were from Aldorea, which all didn't had widescreen.
It's a nice bonus, but not necessary.

And actually to make a game for every resolution is allmost impossible. You can only pick the 10 most common so far.
And even then it means 10 time huger project, because of all the rescaled pics. :/
For example my GPU can scale up to 3840x2160, which is 4K and I tested today, that the engine keeps running at 2560x1600 pixels too.

Why I think the basic resolution is enough, the menus look really terrible, because they stretch very wide.
The maps need to get really huge, like 1080p is allready 40x23 of a map size.

I really think it's perfect fine in the way you did it, hope it was helpful.   (\s/)

 

[KawaiiKid]

Thanks for the reply Luna, but actually this is just a dungeon in my game, and most of it is not maze based. 

It is just a traditional RPG. Knowing this, does it change your answer at all?

I do agree with you on other aspects of the post though, I think the menus do look pretty weird scaled like that - which is why I'm looking forward to Luna Engine being updated for MV

so we can start to make some custom menus.

 

[Gothic Lolita]

I think the menus do look pretty weird scaled like that - which is why I'm looking forward to Luna Engine being updated for MV so we can start to make some custom menus.

I wish something like that would be implemented allready, because in GG Maker for "only" 64,99€, you can make easily the menus directly. 

You make the windowsize and menu commands all in graphical way allready. Which is way easier to make then script them.

That is one of the hugest bummer of RPG Maker MV that is 73,99€ here and don't come up with customizable menus. :/

It is just a traditional RPG. Knowing this, does it change your answer at all?

As mentioned before, it's about the design itself.

It's harder to make good maps in HD or higher. For the first RPG or the start it's easier to stay with the native resolution of MV.

Here is again one point behind GG Maker, because it scales up and down from the main menu, after you created your installer and MV only supports 1 resolution without plugins. :/

For example if you go above 720p, some can't even launch the game. :/

And with Yanfly you only have 1 resolution. I need to agree that MV improved a lot, but a few things are still missing. :/

But enough of that and back to topic.

For my personal oppinion, I like the small screen size more, even the bigger size looks great too.

I think if it's more on the overworld, wood, grassland or ice regions, a higher resolution is great. Because it somehow gives you a better feeling of an open wordl.

If it's more underground and dungeonlike world, like in Dark Souls, then you are probably better with a small resolution.

Because it gives a more constricting feeling to the player. So it's all about atmosphere and personal taste. That's how I look at games at least.  (\s/)

 

[KawaiiKid]

Yeah, I definitely am looking forward to some plugins that allow full customization of the menus, even if I have to pay for it.

I think you have convinced me to stick with the 4:3 original setup for now though.

 

[Milennin]

I was pretty excited about widescreen in MV before it released, but having tried it in 2 projects, I think I prefer 4:3 screen ratio. Widescreen just feels unnecessary for a traditional RPG. More stuff on the screen means less focus on what's actually important to the player. The few extra tiles on both sides of the screen that would be in view of the player if the game were in widescreen aren't really of any relevance, anyway. In battle scenes it leaves way too much open, unused space, especially if you don't utilise a full 4-man party against a group of monsters. 6:9 / 6:10 ratio is overkill for a traditional RPG, I feel 4:3 ratio fits better.

 

[Mouser]

If I was making a game for the PC I would stick with 4:3.  With the limited options going widescreen borks players with older monitors (who - and this is just a wild guess - would be a group that intersects with "people who play old-skool/cheap games").  If I did put in a 'detect widescreen' mode it would be to draw pretty borders instead of black bars. That's it.

If the game is for mobile then I think you have to build for the mobile screen. 4:3 to me just looks and feels horrible on any horizontal phone or tablet. That could just be me though :shrug: